ESR News Blog

Ban the Box Laws Scheduled to Take Effect in Three States on July 1

On July 1, 2017, several “Ban the Box” laws – so called because they remove the box on job applications that applicants are asked to check if they have a criminal history and delay such questions until later in the hiring process – are scheduled to take effect in three states: Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.

On April 27, 2017, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed into law Senate Bill 312 (SB 312) that takes effect July 1, 2017, to prohibit “political subdivisions” such as counties, municipalities, and townships from passing “Ban the Box” laws that prevent employers from using criminal history information.

Under Indiana SB 312, political subdivisions may not prohibit employers from making an inquiry regarding the criminal history information during an initial application for employment, and criminal history may not be introduced against employers in a civil action based on the conduct of employees if:

The criminal history information does not bear a direct relationship to the facts underlying the civil action;

The records of the criminal case have been sealed;

The criminal conviction has been reversed, vacated, or expunged;

The employee or former employer has received a pardon for the criminal conviction; or

“If every city, county or district passes its own laws, it becomes very Balkanized and hard to do business,” said Rosen, author of The Safe Hiring Manual. “By having a clear statewide law, all employers know the rules and employers, in fact, have more of an incentive to hire an ex-offender.”

The Pennsylvania Ban the Box Policy will take effect July 1, 2017 for non-civil service job applicants. The Office of Administration will provide guidance and training to agencies prior to the implementation of the Ban the Box policy, and anticipates that the policy will be applied to civil service applicants by December 2017.

The Ban the Box policy “will allow prospective applicants with criminal records to be judged on their skills and qualifications and not solely on their criminal history, while preserving a hiring agency’s ability to appropriately screen applicants as part of the hiring process,” Governor Wolf said in the news story.

The Ban the Box Policy states the “Secretary of the Office of Administration hereby establishes, and Commonwealth agencies shall implement and maintain, a fair-chance hiring policy that removes the criminal history question from the commonwealth’s employment application, based on the following:

Consideration of arrests not leading to a conviction; annulled, expunged, or pardoned convictions; convictions for summary offenses; and convictions that do not relate to an applicant’s suitability for Commonwealth employment is prohibited.

In making hiring decisions, the hiring entity shall consider the public interest of ensuring access to employment for individuals with criminal records.

This HR Policy shall not affect positions in which a criminal conviction makes an applicant ineligible under law. This HR Policy also shall not apply to employment positions responsible for the safeguarding or security of people or property, law enforcement, or those involving contact with vulnerable populations. All departments, agencies, boards, commissions, and councils shall utilize the online job application system as required by ITPBUS008. No department, agency, board, commission, or council shall utilize its own job application form or questionnaire, unless such form or questionnaire is approved by the Secretary of the Office of Administration.”

On May 3, 2016, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed into law a bill – H.261 – that takes effect July 1, 2017, to “Ban the Box” and remove questions about criminal records from initial job applications for both state and private employment in Vermont, according to a press release from the Governor’s website.

H.261 will give applicants with criminal records a fair chance at decent jobs while reducing the risk of recidivism and incarceration. The new Vermont Ban the Box law follows a 2015 Executive Order signed by Governor Shumlin to implement Ban the Box policies for state jobs.

“Banning the box is all about breaking down barriers and giving those Vermonters who have paid their debt to society a fair chance at finding a good job,” Governor Shumlin stated in the press release. “Nobody wins when Vermonters are trapped in a cycle of unemployment and incarceration.”

Currently, 28 states and over 150 cities and counties have Ban the Box laws to remove barriers to employment for qualified workers with criminal records so they may be first judged on their knowledge, skills, and ability to perform a job, according to the National Employment Law Project (NELP).